Change of hr policies

You may go thru the language, terms and conditions in appointment letter, standing orders, letter/email/circular announcing new/change in serviced conditions by the company.

The change in service conditions are proposed by the company and have to be accepted by the employee in writing.

Employee can decline to accept.

It is felt that employee should submit a gentle declinature in writing under acknowledgment with a copy to him.

Majority of the employees do not submit declinature fearing penultimate action by employer. {Employer may in fact resort to penultimate action including termination.}

Later employer becomes adamant to impose the new conditions and this result into a dispute. Employee may not agree to relent claiming the new/change in conditions were not supplied to him/were not accepted by him in writing and this result into a dispute.

Company might have mentioned in appointment letter like “all terms and conditions announced from time to time in future shall be applicable and acceptable….”and may take a stand that service conditions were communicated to employee/ were placed on employee portal-HR portal which is within the knowledge domain of the employee/can be accessed by employee.

The state of Karnataka has ended blanket exemption granted to IT companies and companies shall have to frame standing orders and till then model standing borders shall apply. {You may check the status for your state from o/o Labor Commissioner.} Your lawyer may opine that you fall within the category of workman.

If you are covered 21 day’s notice as provided under section 9-A of Industrial Disputes Act should be supplied to you.

{The conditions mentioned by you are not to become effective by operation of law.}

The notice period is part of service conditions. The service conditions are governed by standing orders of the company, appointment letter.

The terms and conditions of employment in the certified standing orders cannot be negated by conditions contained in letter of appointment.

The employer should display standing orders near entry/gate on notice board and provide certified copy of standing orders to employee against nominal charges say Rs.10/.

IT companies are covered under SE Act. The Inspector/Chief Inspector can be approached for violation of rights. You may obtain the latest version from Dept. of labor website of your state or buy from market.

e.g. SE Act Delhi: 30.  NOTICE OF DISMISSAL

Model Standing Orders; 13.        Termination of employment, 16.       Certificate on termination of service.-, 17.    Liability of 17[employer

Bond;

Has the company provided any training to you adding to your qualification, specialized skill and incurred any expenses on such training? If yes what is the breakup/amount of expenses and amount of damages to be paid by you if you separate within the tenure of the bond?

What is the reason for extending the tenure of the bond?

You may show the bond along with appointment letter, communication in new/change in conditions to a competent and experienced labor consultant/ service lawyer specializing in such matters, enactments applicable to your state and give inputs in person. Your lawyer may opine that bond is unconscionable/void/unenforceable/inequitable/illegal……violation of standing orders of the company, the SE Act applicable to your state does not permit recovery of liquidated damages or otherwise and the contract created by company is contrary to the provisions of the act.

You may attach the copies of all docs mentioned above in this thread and provide full details. You may erase the names etc to maintain the confidentiality. In the meantime you may find the attachments useful.

The union for help of IT/ITES/BPO is:

UNITES Professionals

IT/BPO Voice of India | Facebook

The Indian Headquarters at Bangalore

Prithviraj Lekkad - President, UNITES Professionals India
Karthik Shekhar - General Secretary, UNITES Professionals India
#6/2, 1st Main, Next to Kodava Samaj, Vasanthnagar, Bangalore - 560 052
Phone: + 91 - 80 - 2235 5959 . 4123 5499
Email: contact@unitespro.org / unitesprofessionals@gmail.com

You can contact them for guidance and help.

The need for union of IT sector employees was long felt and you may find the attachment useful. You can get in touch with leaders and seek help.

Valuable advice of learned experts/members is sought.

Attached.